Quotes of the day

posted at 10:41 pm on February 26, 2013 by Allahpundit

[Obama] will divide, isolate and defeat Republicans using all the powers of his office and all his skills as a political campaigner. As Americans grow frustrated with the cuts, Republicans will reject their party’s no-tax mantra and demand that Congress end the standoff, even if it means raising some new revenue – just the way Obama is demanding.

Obama’s trying to speed this result, by releasing state by state details of the pain and suffering the sequester will cause, all meant to get Republicans to cave. And he’s got the biggest megaphone, hammering this message over and over in a way the divided Republican party cannot.

As the governors spoke, there was a real question of how much flexibility the president has to shape the cuts that are contained in the sequestration measure, which he proposed and signed into law with bipartisan support in 2011. Does Obama have the authority to move money around so government consultants would take more of a hit than Head Start?

Jindal believes so. “Everybody has known that this was coming,” he said. “When did [Obama] go to his Cabinet heads and say, ‘If you had to make these reductions, what would be the least painful way to do it?’ ”

There’s no question the belt-tightening will mean real pain for some workers and families. But is a 9-10 percent reduction in the military coffers, after a decade-long spending spree, really going to “hollow out” our force, making us a “second-rate power”?…

To say, “‘well…we’re going to be hollowing out our military’… If that were really the case, the president should take my suggestion of postponing new spending programs,” Jindal said.

***

Since the day they were swept to power more than two years ago, the tea party’s legions in Washington have made dramatic federal spending cuts the centerpiece of an economic message that has dominated the national debate.

Now they’re about to get what they want.

Deep reductions in domestic and defense spending are set to begin Friday in a process known as sequestration, which will make progress toward the tea party’s goal of shrinking the government. What unfolds over the following months will be a high-stakes test of whether significant cuts in spending will help or hurt the economy — and the Republican Party’s brand…

We live in a period when politicians tend to see the world in a binary fashion; everything is either a one or a zero, and there is a clear winner and a clear loser in every situation. But with the sequester, at least after the first few days, it’s possible that both sides could lose, that people won’t distinguish between Democrats or Republicans but will instead excoriate “those politicians in Washington” as a whole…

But even districts and states that are normally neither competitive nor potentially competitive can get that way in the face of public anguish and rage. During these times, anger against Washington reaches a certain point and creates an environment in which an unusually large (relatively speaking) number of incumbents either lose or have surprisingly close primary contests. For those looking at running for the Senate, a governor’s mansion, or the White House, being tagged as a candidate running from Congress is no prize either. In short, this kind of debacle hurts all incumbents, regardless of whether they wear red or blue jerseys.

***

It is perhaps more likely that the fate of the sequester cuts—for which most Republicans and Democrats have expressed disdain—may be tied to the upcoming fight over increasing the nation’s ability to continue borrowing, and perhaps a larger “grand bargain” to address the nation’s debt. A measure approved in January put off a debt-ceiling decision until May 19, and some Republicans have said they are willing to consider allowing the nation to default unless deeper budget cuts are enacted. The Treasury will be able to keep meeting the nation’s spending obligations through at least the end of July, analysts say.

Against this backdrop, both parties will be gauging the public reaction to the sequester cuts set to begin on Friday. Groups on all sides of the debate plan to highlight the effects of the cuts once they are officially in place, in an effort to sway public opinion. Obama and Democrats may be evaluating the reaction with an eye on whether a significant public outcry might work to their benefit as they press to replace some cuts with revenue from sources such as levying higher taxes on millionaires, reducing farm subsidies, and closing tax loopholes for oil and gas companies.

“Now, lately, some people have been saying, well, maybe we’ll just give the President some flexibility,” Obama said today during his rally in Newport News. “He could make the cuts the way he wants and that way it won’t be as damaging. The problem is when you’re cutting $85 billion in seven months, which represents over a 10-percent cut in the defense budget in seven months, there’s no smart way to do that. There’s no smart way to do that. You don’t want to have to choose between, let’s see, do I close funding for the disabled kid, or the poor kid? Do I close this Navy shipyard or some other one? When you’re doing things in a way that’s not smart, you can’t gloss over the pain and the impact it’s going to have on the economy.”…

What’s more remarkable, that Obama thinks a tax increase counts as a spending cut, or that he admits openly that he doesn’t want to make difficult choices about how to cut spending?

Tis a shame really, that none of us here will have the pleasure of watching the agony you suffer when reality finally arrives

And what reality is that, the one you hear from Wall Street experts, Bloomberg, or the one that makes you shake in anger, delivered by daytime radio entertainers?

No reason to raise the debt ceiling then.

KCB on February 26, 2013 at 11:23 PM

If you believe that the federal budget should be immediately balanced, during a weak recovery, yes. Yes the deficit’s strong downward trajectory remains highly dependent upon continued economic growth.

I was out a good part of the day. When I read today’s highlights I was how in the heck can so much chit happen in one day with those idiots in D.C. but was totally appalled when I heard the AZ sheriff say that Nappy and Immigration never even bothered to call them and let them know they were letting criminals out in their neighborhoods.

The IBD article was written in reference to the fiscal cliff, but it’s no less relevant to the sequester. The main point is that the deficit is already falling rapidly (a fact you’ll never hear on right wing radio) and immediate cuts in spending in today’s weak economy risks slowing GDP growth.

LOL. The feral government borrows and spends over 8% of GDP and then turns around and crows about 2% of GDP “growth”, which even if it were real GDP growth would be nothing to crow about, especially coming out of a recession (if we ever come out of it)? ROFLMAO! I guess I should go borrow a million dollars so I can claim that I just made a million dollars. Too funny. And none of that even includes the trillions of dollars that are printed and subsidized through artificially (and insanely) low interest rates. If a house is worth $300,000 at a mortgage rate of 3.75%, what do you think it would be worth at a more normal rate of 7%? LOL.

Hey, can someone in the know help me out? We have not had a budget for four years and I believe have been running on what is called a Continued Resolution instead. I thought Congress had to spend the same amount of money as what they continued? So how is it that it that the amount just gets bigger and bigger each year?

The IBD article was written in reference to the fiscal cliff, but it’s no less relevant to the sequester. The main point is that the deficit is already falling rapidly (a fact you’ll never hear on right wing radio) and immediate cuts in spending in today’s weak economy risks slowing GDP growth.

bayam on February 26, 2013 at 11:20 PM

If you read the comments, it only references 2010 as the latest year and that much of the decrease (eg. 1.4 trillion to 1.2 trillion) is due to the ineffective Stimulus spending of 2009 slowing to an end.

Your heart is like some icy lake
On whose cold brink I stand
Oh buckle on my spirit’s skate
And lead me living saint the way
To where the ice is thin
That it may break beneath my feet
And let a lover in!

Hey, can someone in the know help me out? We have not had a budget for four years and I believe have been running on what is called a Continued Resolution instead. I thought Congress had to spend the same amount of money as what they continued? So how is it that it that the amount just gets bigger and bigger each year?

Cindy Munford on February 26, 2013 at 11:30 PM

When the media are finished consuming Obama’s caca they’ll get back to you.

“He is a world-class bulls*** artist,” a Senate aide said in response to Obama’s speech today.

No he’s not, he’s less than a second rate one. He’s not fooling anyone that has two functioning brain cells to rub together. It’s doesn’t take ‘world-class’ effort to fool functionally moronic imbeciles.

The government borrows and spends over 8% of GDP and then turns around and crows about 2% of GDP “growth”, which even if it were real GDP growth would be nothing to crow about, especially coming out of a recession

You’re not too swift, are you?

ThePrimordialOrderedPair on February 26, 2013 at 11:29 PM

It’s meaningless to throw out numbers without any context, at least in any serious discussion about economic policy.
You failed to address the larger point that the deficit is falling at a rate that’s historic and impressive by any measure.

You’ll never hear about the historically falling federal deficit on right wing radio (it won’t help ratings) but it’s an irrefutable fact.

The IBD article was written in reference to the fiscal cliff, but it’s no less relevant to the sequester. The main point is that the deficit is already falling rapidly (a fact you’ll never hear on right wing radio) and immediate cuts in spending in today’s weak economy risks slowing GDP growth.

bayam on February 26, 2013 at 11:20 PM

If you read the comments, it only references 2010 as the latest year and that much of the decrease (eg. 1.4 trillion to 1.2 trillion) is due to the ineffective Stimulus spending of 2009 slowing to an end.

sentinelrules on February 26, 2013 at 11:31 PM

Most estimates forecast the deficit to fall to about 3.5% of GDP by 2014, but only if the economy remains on track. You can cut spending, but there are many precedents for lower spending that’s accompanied by higher deficits (read Richard Koo in Barrons).

I’m not saying that spending it’s a huge problem. It is. But the problem is entitlement programs, not the type of cuts about to become reality.

You might think I’m just a pig, and that’s overall true. But anyway I’ve been working on a time machine and am fixin to finish up. You ready to be co-test pilot? Yes, the mrs is ok w/it. It’s a time machine van. We can all go.

You’ll never hear about the historically falling federal deficit on right wing radio (it won’t help ratings) but it’s an irrefutable fact.

Mmmm, no – it’s OMB/CBO estimates (based on the trumpeting sites I’ve seen and accompanying BS charts – hey, they’re simply reporting what OMB/CBO said) – which we know categorically are not ‘fact’; they are estimates that are crafted using a specific set of prescribed parameters and assumptions (eg: double-counting revenues, counting as ‘savings’ monies that weren’t ever going to be spent anyway, etc).

You can’t be serious posting a snippet from a leftist economic policy blog that totally ignores unfunded mandates and uses percentages as opposed to hard numbers to make it’s case. If you were honest at all you would state the IBD article was quoting The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Love is kind generous and unspoiled
Love is faithful but not of this world
Love is patient forgiving and true
Love will chase away all of your blues
Love is honest and never misleads
Love is happy and worry free
Love is all in this world that is good
Love is never misunderstood
Love is caring and knowing no wrong
Love is expressed in beautiful songs
Love will support you and set you free
Love is freely given and forever will be
Love protects and is never too late
Love destroys and devours hate
Love most of all is from heaven above
Love is God and God is love…

So, in your personal life, when things get tight financially, do you spend, borrow or cut you output? Of course, you could get another source of income, like a part time job. Hmmmm, I can’t wait until that laser focus Obama has on jobs, produces more revenue by adding taxpayers to the rolls. Face it, the rabblerouser doesn’t have a clue, stirring up sh!t is all he knows.

HA, HA, Ha, ha, ha … That’s funny. Did you even read that moronic article? They are measuring pure percentages as some sort of absolute data. It’s hysterical and for any math literate people it would be called mixing up multiplicative and additive measures. Let me quote the idiocy of their “measure”:

From fiscal 2009 to fiscal 2012, the deficit shrank 3.1 percentage points, from 10.1% to 7.0% of GDP.

Well, you blithering idiot, our deficits have very, very rarely ever been even 7% of GDP, let alone 10%, so there’s not much of an additive measure of the absolute percentage difference they could make – i.e. if the deficit is only 2% of GDP then even HALVING it to 1% of GDP would register as “not much” by the asinine. math-illiterate measure of your “article”. Learn the difference between additive and multiplicative, you blithering idiot.

BTW, what’s the deficit running this fiscal year? Do you know? It must be something you’re proud to crow about, as small as it is (in your mind). Let’s hear it, bayam. What is this year’s deficit projected at (and/or currently running)? Will it finally get under a trillion? LOL. Seeing how the Fed is still buying up almost $600 billion of government debt with printed money, I would guess that it’s still quite a bit bigger than that. Let’s hear the great figure of the massively reduced deficit for fiscal 2013.

Get a friggin brain. Well, that might be too much for you. Get a friggin brain stem, man.

Remarkable. It just seemed to flow from him effortlessly. What a talent. :)

thatsafactjack on February 26, 2013 at 11:52 PM

His best friend and favorite toy as a small child was a plastic bag his mother gave him to play with… Oh how warm and fuzzy and secure inside it makes him feel, even to this very day, to have that plastic bag hugging his face and scalp.